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I'm considering switching from the standard 3X to the 29X44 Cannondale ring combination. I have some concerns about whether the front derailleur (XTR) and the SRAM shifter can be adjusted so that the chain stays on the rings and shifts as smoothly as a normal 3 ring rig.

Can anyone comment on their experience. How they set it up and how satisfied they are with the result?[size=9][/size]

I simply removed the granny from my Gary Fisher Sugar 2 and now have a 42/32T combination with a 11-32T cassette. I adjusted the front derailleur so it can't go below the middle position.

In a very muddy situation it all too often happens, just when you need it, you can't change to the granny anyway, so why not get rid of it?

Two disadvantages:

It doesn't really shift that smoothly, because the tension on the front derailleur cable is considerably higher, but with a 2x9 setup you don't have to change gears all much any more. Large on the road and fast terrain, middle chainring on the climbs, that all you need.

On a rocky downhill the chain does fall from the middle chainring on a once in a while. Normally the granny would have prevented the chain from falling on the bottom bracket. The derailleur probably needs some finetuning.

you need a top pivot derail. you cannot adjust the stops on the vertically compact front derail that shimano has been pushing the last couple years. the older style top pivot are a bit lighter too. i have been running a 2X9 32-44 and 11-32 setup for two seasons now.
I'm considering switching from the standard 3X to the 29X44 Cannondale ring combination. I have some concerns about whether the front derailleur (XTR) and the SRAM shifter can be adjusted so that the chain stays on the rings and shifts as smoothly as a normal 3 ring rig.

Can anyone comment on their experience. How they set it up and how satisfied they are with the result?

I used a Midleburn XC duo CHAINSET last season and suffered terribly with the chain jumping off both rings and in both directions. This was a problem while racing XC and cost me a couple of placings on more than one occasion.
Also when the chain jumped off the large chainring away from the bike it also got stuck inbetween the crank arm and the ring itself, this took a couple of minutes to untangle losing valuable time. Obviuosly a rivet inbetween the ring and crank arm would stop this like the XT chainset I am running now already has. Check this out first!